Airfare and upgrade through Oceania

[khuselid]

16 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Who knows what method you use to get the bizclass fare. 

I start with ITA Matrix to get a basic idea and then I call United Airlines which has the best phone response AND can look further at any connecting Star Alliance flights with current sales that do not show on the United search engine OR even occasionally in ITA Matrix.

 

For example, about a month ago, I searched for SFO-CPT biz tix and found many $6-7k pp fares. Called United and unpublished price was <$3k pp (due to Lufthansa sale on their leg from Frankfurt.

 

Most importantly: you have to buy your O cruise “with air” to get a biz class ticket and, historically, O does not credit you the value of the economy tix when you accept the biz class quote. In essence, you end up paying two fares pp.

NOTE: recently, someone here on CC said they did get credit for the economy ticket in purchasing bizclass. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard that and, sorry, I don’t believe it!

In any case, the other issue is that you’d have to pay deviations if you want anything other that O’s contract carrier and, most likely, O’s quote will not be a non-stop flight. Plus you may not get FF miles.

 

Finally, traditionally, if O changes the itinerary, it will pay DIY air change fees up to (now) $300 pp and/or tix differential up to $300 pp.

Bottom line: O bizclass = more trouble than it appears to be worth.

Hi FF.

I am the person who got the economy fare refunded. Maybe it helps to have an awesome TA who specializes in Oceania. Believe it or not, it happened. For us we have 2 stops regardless of which airline we chose because we fly out of PDX which isn't a hub for anyone except Alaska. I did all of my homework and for the first time ever the price was better using O. Also since we are supposed to dock in Venice we now can rely on O to get us to the airport should be end up in Trieste. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

11 hours ago, khuselid said:

Hi FF.

I am the person who got the economy fare refunded. Maybe it helps to have an awesome TA who specializes in Oceania. Believe it or not, it happened. For us we have 2 stops regardless of which airline we chose because we fly out of PDX which isn't a hub for anyone except Alaska. I did all of my homework and for the first time ever the price was better using O. Also since we are supposed to dock in Venice we now can rely on O to get us to the airport should be end up in Trieste. 

This is terrific news. Let’s hope others push for the coach credit.

We’ll still be DIY. We only fly United as Plan A (with Star Alliance partners as B). And fortunately, our SFO is a fairly major world hub (though, admittedly, LAX has more options for non-stop flights).

But, I do want to remind folks again to never just rely on an airline’s web search engine for best routing, price etc. Always confirm by phone and ask for a booking fee waiver, at least when the agent comes back with a better itinerary and/or tix prices.

[Hawaiidan]

26 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

This is terrific news. Let’s hope others push for the coach credit.

We’ll still be DIY. We only fly United as Plan A (with Star Alliance partners as B). And fortunately, our SFO is a fairly major world hub (though, admittedly, LAX has more options for non-stop flights).

But, I do want to remind folks again to never just rely on an airline’s web search engine for best routing, price etc. Always confirm by phone and ask for a booking fee waiver, at least when the agent comes back with a better itinerary and/or tix prices.

correct....The  UA web search for a recent  ticket  showed $3890      By calling    UA revenue priced the ticket out at $3450.  PSP-AMS-LIS-PSP  Business       As a UA Plat  I never get charged for booking.,again, loyality pays.